Day 1 at Lourdes

Date: 8th September, 2016

What a day! Arrived at airport at 6am both nervous and excited. We met and greeted the pilgrims and helped them check in and settle down, chatting to them and reassuring them that all would be well. We arrived at 12:30pm French time to Lourdes and 30 degrees of heat. We checked into our hotel, met our coordinaters and trained up in our duties of flag bearing and stewarding. There was a welcome mass for the pilgrims and we assisted them in finding their seats. We later helped the pilgrims on the other flights, who were delayed in Dublin by four hours, settle in.

We ended the day with a reflection and prayer with all the other schools where all our nerves and apprehension dissipated when we saw all the other friendly faces. Different schools perform each night on a specific theme. We’re on tonight! Everyone is smiling here and calls you by name, even total strangers! (We wear name badges). All in all it was a great day and we can’t wait to see what lies ahead for us.
Niamh, Claire, Aideen, Laura, Roisin and Mrs. O’Reilly